Tuning In: CSNNE's Mike Giardi understands Bill Belichick's ways

It's Mike Giardi's job to get the Patriots to say something interesting.

You're probably thinking, "Yeah, good luck with that. You'd have a better chance of convincing a Republican to support Obamacare."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is so tight-lipped sometimes you wonder if he'd rather have the Jets logo tattooed on his forehead than speak candidly, and he demands the same reticence from his players.

Giardi, who reports on the Pats for Comcast SportsNet New England, keeps trying anyway.

"Obviously," Giardi said, "he feels like, 'The less we say to you guys, the less chance there is for a distraction to the football team.' You can't argue with the bottom line, the wins and losses. He's got three rings. Do I wish they talked more? Do I wish they were a little bit more open? Absolutely, because I think there are guys there who are really good guys, really smart guys and their personality and their intelligence get somewhat extinguished by the reins that are on them."

Giardi, 42, hosts CSNNE's daily reports from Gillette Stadium. He tries to draw as much insight as he can out of CSNNE Insider Tom E. Curran and the two try to have fun along the way. Giardi and Curran discuss in general ahead of time what they will talk about on the air, but they don't follow a script. At times, Giardi might even pick an impromptu verbal battle with Curran.

"Some people," Giardi said, "I don't know if their ego would allow them to be occasionally challenged by the host, but Tom doesn't mind that at all. In fact, he thinks it makes for better television sometimes."

Giardi made for a better sports column when he revealed that Curran has some quirks.

"And that's good because it allows me to pick on him," Giardi explained.

Curran is sometimes too busy to eat and gets cranky. So Giardi constantly reminds him to eat and even slips him a granola bar or candy bar every once in awhile.

"I feel at times I'm like his mother or father," Giardi said. "I've got to make sure Tom is well fed."

At Bruins games, Giardi works with Joe Haggerty, who does not forget to eat, but tends to show up for live shots with little time to spare.

"There have been many moments when we have sweated Hags' arrival," Giardi said, "but he has never not shown up."

So what would Curran and Haggerty say about working with Giardi?

"Probably that I can be a pain in the (butt)," Giardi said. "I needle them a little bit."

Giardi does his best to ask Curran and Haggerty about any nuggets of information they've discovered in the locker room.

"It shows that people talk to our guys," Giardi said, "and they definitely do talk to our guys and I want to make sure that comes out."

On the air last week, Giardi and Curran interviewed Pats receiver Julian Edelman, who clearly listened when Belichick told the team not to say anything of interest to the media. After the conversation shifted to taking care of his body, Edelman loosened up and he actually gave a better answer — at least for a Patriot — when asked about the Pats rookie wide receivers and what it was like learning the playbook when he was in his first year.

"Sometimes you have to work hard to get to where you want to get," Giardi said, "but if you show them you're not going to burn them in those situations eventually you get something out of them."

Working alongside Curran, who likes to keep things light, helps.

Giardi enjoys anchoring, but he's most comfortable reporting from games.

"There's no teleprompter," he said. "There are no stat sheets you're poring over. It's what did I see today that I translate to you, what was told to me that I can translate to you. That's me talking to you, the viewer. I love those moments."

The Patriots are 3-0 and the defense has allowed only 27 points. Nevertheless, some fans refuse to believe in the Pats' defense because they haven't played any tough teams yet.

"I get agitated," Giardi said, "when people say, 'You can't really tell anything about them.' We'd be killing them if they were giving up 25, 30 points a game."

The schedule begins to grow more difficult Sunday night when the Pats visit Atlanta, a team that was expected to be much better than its 1-2 record. Then they visit Cincinnati and host New Orleans.

Giardi believes playing the younger players while Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola are out will pay off later in the season and as Belichick often says, it doesn't really matter how you play early in the season, it's playoff time that really counts.

Contact Bill Doyle at wdoyle@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.